Academic Writing Workshop on 4 June: Please note the following request

Dear TAs,

The workshop on academic writing is on the 4th of June from 9am until 12.30pm. In addition to the two readings and the questions that I sent you, please will you also bring as many writing tasks set for undergraduate students in your department or discipline as you can. Examples would be lab or research report assignments, essay or narrative assignments, and any other form of writing that students need to do for assessment. You need to bring the task sheet with you - the question/problem they have to answer and the instructions they need to follow. Thank you.

Please also have a look at the following website and read through the section and links under 'Our Thinking' - we will be using bits and pieces in the workshop so it will help to familiarise yourself with it, even if you only have time to skim over it. The entries are not long.  http://www.thinkingwriting.qmul.ac.uk/thinking.

I am looking forward to getting to know you all a little, and to working with you during the workshop. It will be participatory, interactive and hopefully fun, too :-). 

Thanks,

Sherran

Your first task – Week 2 (24 -30 May)

Dear TAs

We hope you have had a chance to digest all the information and skills you have gained in the first two workshops. We will post a task for the first workshop, give you time to digest and work with it and then post the task for the second workshop after that. Remember, the facilitators are available to assist you with your tasks.

We know it takes time to adapt to a new way of doing things but remember, we are in this  and learning together.

Use this blog space to ask questions and to share your contributions. Your voice is very important to us. We are relying on your contributions to improve this programme, the teaching and learning at UWC and at other institutions in South Africa.

  

What is expected of you this week?

• Refer to the Workshop 1 information, particularly to the presentations made by Professor Gavin Maneveldt about the UWC teaching and learning context, including reference to the UWC Graduate attribute charter.

• Re-collect and revisit what you heard or jotted down as you listened to your coordinators’ accounts of their approach to teaching and what scholastic accounts they used to inform their teaching. You will use this information to develop principles to guide your teaching.

• Ask your coordinators about your role in the ECP programmes.

• Use the information to complete Task 1.

You are now starting to develop an account of your teaching and learning context and your role in this complex context.

The deadline for your first reflection is Wednesday 6 June 2013

  [Please make sure you have contributions before that time for facilitator comments so that you have ample time to make improvements].

Let's learn from each other!

Course Introduction – Week 1 (16 -23 May)

Dear TA

Welcome to the FSTADP course .We hope that participation in this course will give you some practical grounding in teaching in Higher Education.

Let us give you a quick overview of the course and what to expect in the following few months.

We have arranged the course into nine workshops . Detailed information about each individual workshop is provided at the right hand side of this blog post. Visit each workshop page in the week in which it is provided. There, you will find summaries and resources which will help you complete your learning tasks. All your learning task instructions will be  posted on the 'workshop pages' as well as this home page. We will give you ample time to complete each task and give you deadlines for handing in the final tasks.

This blog space is designed to give you an opportunity to participate in learning with other TAs and your facilitators as you engage with each task. Use this blog space to ask questions, comment on what others have submitted and learn.

The most important space will be your own individual blog where you will complete and reflect on the activities we have given you. All we need is a link to each of your tasks.  Once you have a completed a task and uploaded it, your facilitators will give you feedback and tell you whether it still requires some work.

All your completed tasks need to be collated together in a portfolio of evidence for your final assessment.  There is a rubric for marking this final portfolio.

Remember, you are required to:

1. Attend and participate in all programme activities.
2. Read and keep up with tasks and learning activities provided and be prepared to enter your reflections as blog entries.
3. Keep records of all sessions and workshops given.
4. Compile a portfolio of evidence for the participation experience in a Teaching Portfolio.

Let us learn and support each other !

Welcome to our blog

FSTADP: Faculty of Sciences Teaching Assistant Development Programme Blog

We are a group of TAs at the University of the Western Cape sharing some moments in our professional journey about teaching in Higher Education.